Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has said he will appeal to the federal government to waive electricity bills for farmers and flood-affected people, as he toured flood-stricken areas of Punjab on Monday.
Speaking to reporters in Muzaffargarh, Bilawal said an agricultural emergency was needed to support farmers hit hard by the devastation.
He has made the suggestion to the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to use the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) to distribute financial compensation to flood victims.
Bilawal stated that in previous such times, like the floods that took place during his tenure in the PDM government in 2022 and even during COVID, BISP was used as a means to monetarily help people.
He also urged the Foreign Office to seek international aid and called on UN agencies operating in Pakistan to contribute to relief and rehabilitation efforts.
The Bhutto scion appealed for political unity, urging all parties to set aside differences to face the crisis. However, when pressed by reporters over the shortage of boats, life jackets and flood camps, he offered no concrete answers, saying only that the state was trying its best in the face of an unprecedented disaster.
Floods this monsoon have claimed more than 900 lives and displaced thousands across Punjab and Sindh.
Water inflows in the Indus River are expected to rise further in the coming days, with high flows forecast at the Guddu barrage.
The ongoing torrential rains and surging floods have inundated large swaths of farmlands and destroyed ready-to-reap crops across the country, triggering fears of a food crisis and inflation, the UN and growers have warned.
NDMA
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to expedite ongoing relief operations and ensure complete preparedness for potential flood situations due to rising water levels in the rivers.
The prime minister, chairing a meeting to review ongoing rescue and relief operations in flood-hit areas, instructed the Authority to ensure early warnings and timely evacuation measures for populations near rivers and areas at risk.
The NDMA chairman briefed the prime minister on the prevailing situation of flooding in rivers, the status of rising water level in rivers, and the relief operations for flood-affected people across the country.
The premeir directed the NDMA to maintain full coordination with provincial governments and Provincial Disaster Management Authorities.
He also instructed to intensify the search for missing persons in the flood-hit areas
The prime minister was also briefed on the displacement of people due to floods and the ongoing rescue operations.
Participants of the meeting were briefed on the severe flooding in the Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers at Trimmu Barrage, Panjnad Barrage, Head Balloki, Head Sidhnai, Ganda Singh Wala, Head Sulemanki, and Head Islam.
It was told that the convoys of relief goods were being continuously sent to the flood-affected areas.
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